Mac OS X Lion: Sound problem after unplugging my headset/headphones.

Yep, tah_mas' fix does the exact same thing as mine (`sudo killall coreaudiod`). When you kill off coreaudiod the system automatically restarts it within a few seconds. So, clearly it's a software problem that should be fixable. There was an update to Lion a few weeks ago (10.7.1) that mentioned some kind of audio fix, but it didn't fix this problem.

For anyone who still has the same problem where audio stops working after plugging/unplugging the headphones, who thinks the `sudo killall coreaudiod` didn't work, make sure you are logged in as a user who has admin rights. The command will ask for your password and should not return anything, unless you put in the wrong password.

If you run the app I posted earlier in the thread, it will give you an opportunity to put in a different user/pass for a user that has admin rights. Both methods work for me without fail.

kyen99 wrote:

sudo killall coreaudiod

I get the same problem here - it is triggered when unplugging any type of headphones/speakers/iPhone headphones (with built in mic). Once sound stops plugging/unplugging anything will not bring back sound even on internal speaker - only a reboot. Seems completely random when this happens - as I can swap sound devices quite happily but then suddenly it goes wrong.

But thanks to kyen99 I no longer have to reboot!

Nice work figuring out you can restart the sound deamon. I guess there's a bug in there triggered by a change in audio device plugged into the audio jack.

FYI:

MacBook Pro 13-inch, Early 2011

Mac OS X Lion 10.7.1

This worked to me thanks to Kyen99(THANK YOU!):

1. Go to Applications > Tools > Terminal and open it.

2. Copy and paste this in the Terminal window:

sudo killall coreaudiod

3. klick enter and wait for 5 sec +/-

Then hopefully it'll all be ok and the sound's working as normal.

If this worked for you then thank Kayen99. He's awesome 😉

kyen99, I have no coreaudiod process running.

kyen99 wrote:

The app should totally work for Leopard. There are two ways to test if it will work. When you have the problem...

Either:

Run Activity Monitor and find the process called "coreaudiod", select it and press Quit Process.

or

Run Terminal and do: "sudo killall coreaudiod" (without the quotes)

Both methods will ask for your admin password. After running either of these it might take a few seconds for audio to start working. If either of these temporarily fixes your problem, then the app will probably work for you. The app just does the exact same thing. It isn't really lion-specific but I never had this problem on snow leopard or leopard.

-kai

This happens on MacBook Pros to, it's a bug in mac os x. You can fix it (it stays fixed for me by:

Open "Audio Midi Setup.app"

Under source the menu on the right has bit rates, click the menu and select the last one: "2ch-32bit Float",

No clue why but it should fix it instalty, test by hitting the volume key.

Similar thread

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2199371?start=15&tstart=0

marcusleemitchell wrote:

Has anyone recenlty installed LogMeIn?

I did, and it hijacked my audio device and as a result...no audio.

Solution:

System Preferences > Audio MIDI Setup 'Right-Click' on Built-in Output > Use this device..

I also noticed that I had the same problem after installing LogMeIn. My plan of action next time my sound gets muted out is to go into System Preferences and make sure that the "Headphones" are selected and not the "LogMeInSoundDriver."

I tried unplugging my headphones and then plugging back in. I haven't had the problem of getting sound back in headphones nor through the Mac's speakers.

Thank you, marcusleemitchell!!! I was completely stumped until I saw your post about LogMeIn and remembered I had recently updated the plug-in. Went to System Prefs > Sound > Sound Effects and chose "Play sound effects through: Internal Speakers." Voila! Sound is back! MacBookPro, OS X 10.7.3

I had the same problem, had a look on utube and a guy posted a fix that worked for me. Nothing more complicated than using a tooth pick to insert into the headphone socket, preferably with some music playing so that you can hear when it's fixed. In my case I inserted the pick pretty much all the way to the LED at the end and then applied an outward pressure for a few seconds and bingo! I pressed down at about 6 'o'clock and that fixed mine, but others say at 9 or 3 'o'clock, a left or right pressure in those cases. I guess you may have to try various positions but in each one hold it for several seconds rather than prodding about! Good luck.

I have a 2009 MPB 17" w/SL 10.6.8 ; this happens intermittenly w/me. In the past my only resolve was power cycle. Expirimenting I found this to work:

Symptom:

After using headphones and unplugging the macbook pro speakers will not work. Either the keyboard volume is unresponsive, the volume is much lower than should be, or there is no audio from the speakers at all.

(my) Resolution:

Plug back in the headphones, verify they work at volume and with system volume control as normal. Now WHILE using keyboard volume + or -, getting the 'plop' 'plop' 'plop' sound indicating volume shift in quick succession, unplug the headphones. Now your speakers should return to working as desired.

This fix has worked on several occasions and not failed to date. A bit ghetto, but beats the pants off a power recycle in the time dept.

-nf

Hi, folks.

Well, I tried every software solution listed in this thread, and none of them worked...apparently because in my case, it was a HARDWARE issue. Specifically with the headphone jack, which required me shoving a paperclip up in there. Others have mentioned this, but I found that this thread actually has a good explanation for it. Specifically,

"The problem is there is a switch in the jack that tells it if you have a mini headphone plug or an optical plug plugged into the headphone port. The problem is when you remove the plug, the jack doesn't know it and keeps shining the red light to talk with the optical. This disables the internal speakers and you see digital out instead of internal speakers in the speaker conrtol panel. Plugging and unplugging the speakers may get it working right for awhile but it won't last forever."

Plugging and unplugging didn't work for me, so I moved on to the next solution:

"I slid a paperclip in, and pushed out a little metal on the side.

That did the job, and I have internal sound again. And the digital red light, is now off."

This worked perfectly. So, if after you've tried ALL of the other solutions here, if it still isn't working, this might be your problem.

NOTE: This DOESN'T mean shove a paperclip directly at the red light in the back. If you look into the audio port (which is easier if the red light is on), you'll see a metal ring about halfway down. Poking at that did the trick for me.

The fix for putting the headphone jack back in and removing it about 5 times worked for me. Been trying all night using the sudo killall coreaudio and everything else this forum has had to suggest but none worked except unplugging and plugging back in a headphone jack. Must be a switch that isnt turned back on when some products are removed.

I had the same problem. Killing the sound fixed the problem for me.. no restart etc but it does feel like I'm back running linux!

sudo kill -9 `ps ax|grep 'coreaudio[a-z]' |awk '{print $1}'`

sudo killall coreaudiod (typed into Terminal utility app)

worked for me. It cleared some sort of queue blockage and I heard all the backlogged mail checks and whooshes!

Thanks

@spaz926, the app just runs the following AppleScript:

do shell script "sudo killall coreaudiod" with administrator privileges

So, the app should prompt you for your admin password when you run it. It does for me.

if "sudo killall coreaudiod" didn't work for you, then the app won't help.